Navigating emotional and complex human interactions? This tool may help.

Today we mourn for peace in Europe and feel for everyone who have been affected by the crisis. This is a day that shows how terribly important communication and leadership are in preventing aggression and navigating highly emotional and complex human interactions. Therefore, we'd like to share with you, dear readers, our Creative SPARK.

"Once people become aware of their patterns of reasoning, they are more ready and welcoming to reorganise their thoughts."

Creative SPARK?is a framework, we, at the Mindshift.Global, built to ignite inspiring, clear and solutions-oriented thinking in situations where the stakes are high and emotions blur the vision. It is based evenly on science as well as on intuition and self-observation, and it works equally well on an individual level and on team level. We use this tool particularly to help people shift their focus into a more empathy-driven, creative and receptive mode. Because once people become aware of their patterns of reasoning, they are more ready and welcoming to reorganise their thoughts. Using this framework, anyone can bring more clarity, alignment, structure and a peace-of-mind into their creative ideation and decision making processes.?

"SPARK is in your hand!"

SPARK is an acronym for: Shift > Pause > Ask > Reveal > Kindle (attach one letter for each finger, and you'll see that SPARK is in your hand ;-)

Here is how you can use it:

"What would I do if I were not afraid?"

SHIFT: When we feel under threat, we are not in control of ourselves. In situations of high stress or danger, our brains are wired to do only three things: fight, flight or freeze. Until we feel that the threat is over, we won’t be able to perform anything that is truly reasonable or logical. Therefore, it is very important to "Shift" your attention to your body in moments of fear, anger or stress. Observe and locate your feeling without asking why you feel the way you feel. Don't judge! Simply ask this powerful question and visualize your answer: What would I wish to feel/do right now if I had no fear? In our experience, most answers to this question have been reconciling.

"Between stimulus and reaction there is a space. Good leaders inhibit that space."

PAUSE: Between stimulus and reaction there is a space. Good leaders inhibit that space, and in that space, lies our freedom, as Viktor Frankl once said. "Pause" is about core values and alignment on micro and macro level. It’s about awareness about our own beliefs. The question we need to answer here go beyond the questions of goals, it is about convictions, beliefs and personal purpose. The powerful question here is: If this were my second chance, what would I do differently? According to a recent Columbia University study “Postponing the onset of the decision process by as little as 50 to 100 milliseconds enables the brain to focus attention on the most relevant information and block out irrelevant distractors".

"If this were my second chance, what would I do differently?"

ASK: This means, question the questions and question your own relevance! Unfortunately, companies do very little of this kind of work as they assume to have a right to existence and know what the problems are to jump into "problem solving" immediately. Instead leaders should focus on unearthing the problems first. We suggest holding group and individual problem finding sessions and let different problem statements exist at the same time for a while before settling in. In order to find out about own relevance, leaders should ask "Are we adding any value to the lives of others? How can we enhance and add brilliance to the lives of our customers, peers and partners?" Doing so from a place of love and grace, rather than manipulation leads to abundance as a natural outcome. Some of the best examples of this are companies such as LinkedIn with their “embrace your workers culture” or now Microsoft under Satya Nadella’s who now promotes partnerships over one-stop solutions.?

"Question the questions and question your own relevance".

REVEAL: So the first 3 points were about the goal, purpose and reframing. After you collected all this information, now it is time to "Reveal" connections. The real journey of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes, said Marcel Proust once. When always surrounded by the same people and same ideas then you create a culture of complacency. So you need to consciously leave the realm of the known. For instance, the legendary US designer Ralf Osterhout is known for regularly getting out to a kiosk and buying magazines concerned with really obscure themes.?Because creativity is about making connections between things that are seemingly unrelated. So ask yourself: If I were not to settle with the obvious, what would I do?

"When always surrounded by the same people and same ideas then you create a culture of complacency".

KINDLE: After having done all the work above, you need to ignite action through communication because without collaboration and excitement you'll have to do everything alone. Unfortunately very few leaders pay attention to communication or to developing their skills. Those also never feel really comfortable in the leadership role and wonder why no one wants to follow their lead... Ask these three powerful questions: What is the story I am inviting my people into? How would they describe it to their families and friends? And, how is the world better off once we succeed?

Always be memorable, always be emotional".

And of course, always have fun!

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About The Mindshift.Global:

The Mindshift.Global is a unique consultancy firm with a specialization around leadership and communications with a twist. We have already helped numerous executives tell inspiring stories and successfully master transition and cultural transformation processes in their organizations.